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by Hope

With all my recent posts about food, I saw this and was just like YES! Someone else gets my struggle!

But I wanted to jump in and share the final answer to our Christmas Tree debacle for this year. This is our $15 $10 Dollar General, 4′ pre lit Christmas Tree. It was listed as $15 which I was fine with. But much to my pleasant surprise, when rung up, it was only $10. Win for me!

I believe this is a good compromise for us. Princess is happy to have a traditional tree to decorate. And I am ecstatic at the size and price. If we decide to store it, it’s a very reasonable size in the box. And if I don’t want to store it, well, donating or trashing it…it was only $10. Just a win-win, all the way around!

We decorated the house before we left for my parents and I am looking forward to getting back from Texas to a clean, holiday decorated home. Yeah! This is definitely my favorite time of the year.

And to be honest, this year will be the best, in some senses, in a number of years. We have a true living room for the first time in, what 4 or so years. I’ve been budgeting and shopping for Christmas for months now, so no financial crunch. And work is steady and enjoyable.

A couple of personal updates:

• My grandmother has recently been diagnosed with cancer. She now has daily doctor appointments as we find out more details of the prognosis. And are not sure how she will decide to proceed, but either way, I imagine my time with her will increase. I’m grateful that my work life is so flexible as to when and where I work so I can be available to her when and where needed.
• As a result of this diagnosis, it looks like Gymnast will be coming to visit over the holidays. He is VERY close to her. And I think his dad has agreed to foot the bill for this trip (I have not as I will be bringing him down for Spring Break.) It’s not a done deal yet, but this is what Gymnast has said.

Hope

Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.

But life has a way of rewriting your plans.

A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.

Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.

Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.

She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.